controls, although two hemoglobin samples,

6A and 8A,

from the group of 9 indi-

viduals exposed to 69 R had high contents of isoleucine.

Table 1.

Frequency of substitution of isoleucine for other amino acids
in human hemoglobin from Marshallese.

Exposure (R)0 controls

175
69
175 in utero
69 in utero

0 offspring

No. of
samples

Substitution
frequency + SEM (x 10°)

25

p value*

3.09 + 0.33

39
9
3

4.77 + 0.67
4.45 + 1.16
3.26 + 0.64

0.05>p>0.025
NS
NS

5

5.24 * 0.85

NS

l

6.84

NS

*Probability of significant difference from controls.

Blood samples were obtained from 9 exposed persons in successive years

to determine whether fluctuations in isoleucine content occurred.

are shown in Table 2.

Fluctuations noted for samples 3R,

24R,

35R,

The data

and 71R

could be due to variant clones of erythrocytes arising from individual stem
cells, which appear and disappear from the peripheral circulation. Such fluctuations have not been observed in specimens from normal laboratory personnel.

Table 2.

Frequency of substitution of isoleucine in samples analyzed in
consecutive years.

Substitution frequency
Exposure (R)

Sample number

175
175
175
175
175
69
69
69
69

3R
24R
33R
35R
71R
6A
4A
44A
45A

1974
19.79
13.45
4.74
5.19
8.29
6.98
4.04
3.65

- 34 -

(x_105)
1975

1976

1.76
7.00
2.16
2.17
1.45
6.29
2.56
2.17
3.23

6.69

2.85
3.10

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